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CHRISTMAS IS BEING AT HOME
LUKE 3,7-18
THERE WERE TWO SONS PROMISED DURING THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON,
ONE WAS JESUS BUT THE OTHER WAS PROMISED TO OLD ELIZABETH AND
ZECHARIAH, BOTH BOYS WERE TO BE DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS, EACH
HAD A DESTINY THAT HAD TO BE FULFILLED, BOTH WOULD DIE VIOLENT
DEATHS, AND BOTH WOULD BE REMEMBERED CENTURIES LATER. JOHN THE
BAPTIST WAS HIS NAME, NOT KNOWN FOR HIS ELEGANCE AND UNDERSTANDABLY
SO, FOR WE ARE TOLD THAT VERY EARLY IN HIS LIFE HE MADE THE
WILDERNESS HIS HOME, IN THAT HOME HE WAS DEPRIVED OF SOCIALIZATION
PROCESSES TO WHICH JESUS WAS EXPOSED, HIS DIET WAS LIMITED TO
WILD LOCUSTS AND HONEY.
SO IT SHOULD NOT SURPRISE US WHEN WE READ THESE WORDS RECORDED
FROM HIS LIPS, "YOU VIPERS` BROOD" HARDLY A WELCOME ONE WOULD
EXTEND TO AN INCOMING CLASS OF NEW MEMBERS WHO ARE OFFERING THEMSELVES
FOR BAPTISM, BUT THAT IS WHAT HE DID: CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM, SAYS
HE, IS WHAT YOU CALL YOURSELVES, YET THOSE WHO COME FROM ABRAHAM'S
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT, YOU CANNOT SIMPLY JUSTIFY YOURSELVES
BY SAYING, "WE HAVE ABRAHAM FOR OUR FATHER, OR WE ARE OF ABRAHAM'S
HOUSEHOLD, NOR CAN WE IF SOMEONE WERE TO ASK US OF OUR SPIRITUAL
CONDITION SIMPLY SAY, "WE ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF JOHN WESLEY,
OR WE ARE MEMBERS OF FIRST CHURCH EVANSTON."
INSTEAD OF RESPONDING WITH ANGER OR OFFENSE, THEY ASK A VERY
SIMPLE QUESTION. "THEN WHAT ARE WE TO DO?" IT IS A QUESTION THAT
GOES TO THE HEART OF WHAT IS ON THE MINDS OF MANY THINKING
CHRISTIANS, WHAT ARE WE TO DO? FOR MANY OF US THE ANSWERS COME

CHRISTMAS IS BEING AT HOME
LUKE 3,7-18
THERE WERE TWO SONS PROMISED DURING THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON,
ONE WAS JESUS BUT THE OTHER WAS PROMISED TO OLD ELIZABETH AND
ZECHARIAH, BOTH BOYS WERE TO BE DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS, EACH
HAD A DESTINY THAT HAD TO BE FULFILLED, BOTH WOULD DIE VIOLENT
DEATHS, AND BOTH WOULD BE REMEMBERED CENTURIES LATER. JOHN THE
BAPTIST WAS HIS NAME, NOT KNOWN FOR HIS ELEGANCE AND UNDERSTANDABLY
SO, FOR WE ARE TOLD THAT VERY EARLY IN HIS LIFE HE MADE THE
WILDERNESS HIS HOME, IN THAT HOME HE WAS DEPRIVED OF SOCIALIZATION
PROCESSES TO WHICH JESUS WAS EXPOSED, HIS DIET WAS LIMITED TO
WILD LOCUSTS AND HONEY.
SO IT SHOULD NOT SURPRISE US WHEN WE READ THESE WORDS RECORDED
FROM HIS LIPS, "YOU VIPERS` BROOD" HARDLY A WELCOME ONE WOULD
EXTEND TO AN INCOMING CLASS OF NEW MEMBERS WHO ARE OFFERING THEMSELVES
FOR BAPTISM, BUT THAT IS WHAT HE DID: CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM, SAYS
HE, IS WHAT YOU CALL YOURSELVES, YET THOSE WHO COME FROM ABRAHAM'S
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT, YOU CANNOT SIMPLY JUSTIFY YOURSELVES
BY SAYING, "WE HAVE ABRAHAM FOR OUR FATHER, OR WE ARE OF ABRAHAM'S
HOUSEHOLD, NOR CAN WE IF SOMEONE WERE TO ASK US OF OUR SPIRITUAL
CONDITION SIMPLY SAY, "WE ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF JOHN WESLEY,
OR WE ARE MEMBERS OF FIRST CHURCH EVANSTON."
INSTEAD OF RESPONDING WITH ANGER OR OFFENSE, THEY ASK A VERY
SIMPLE QUESTION. "THEN WHAT ARE WE TO DO?" IT IS A QUESTION THAT
GOES TO THE HEART OF WHAT IS ON THE MINDS OF MANY THINKING
CHRISTIANS, WHAT ARE WE TO DO? FOR MANY OF US THE ANSWERS COME